Nowadays, my bar for attending conferences is pretty high. The events that I’m most likely to attend are one’s that are directly related to projects that I co-lead on campus, where the convening is small and made up of my direct peers at other institutions, or when I'm speaking and the travel / accommodations are paid for.

What strikes me from my 2017 list is both how many times I traveled (five), and also how many critical conferences and convenings that I missed.

Here is a partial list of 2017 events related to digital learning innovation that I did not attend::

What digital learning / learning innovation conferences am I missing from this list?

Which conferences did you attend, and which are you sad about missing?

Almost all of the conferences that I missed in 2017 were ones that I have attended at some point during the past two decades. Missing some of these conferences was painful - as long-time peers and colleagues were in attendance. Each time I miss another digital learning / learning innovation event I feel a strong case of higher ed conference FOMO.

In looking at the conference events that I attended and missed in 2017, it is also clear that external funding is increasingly driving my decisions about where to go. There are only so many days that it is feasible to be off campus. In making the choice about where to go, it is hard not to prioritize events where the costs for registration, travel, hotel, and meals are covered by an external source. This makes for good and responsible budget decisions, but is perhaps sub-optimal if the point of conferences is to learn and to best represent the work of your institution.